Christmas Recap

I apologize in advance for abandoning you, dear reader, over the holidays. I know you thought I had completely forgotten my blog and every reader was hanging on a thread for a new post. No? I'm just making that up in my head? Ah well, pipe dreams and all....

Well, I'm back and I present this Christmas recap post chock full of pictures for your enjoyment.

My parents arrived on the Saturday before Christmas, and immediately regretted their decision due to our cold weather. But they survived, so that's the important take-away point here. Sunday night we did take them down to Duluth for dinner and to see the Bentleyville lights, although it was much too cold to get out so we did just a drive-by.

On Monday we made cookies. The wise idea was to actually make them during Emily's nap and then have her help decorate them when she woke up. I'm not sure who's brilliant plan it was to let a 2 1/2 year old put sugary icing on cookies, but it was messy. Not a total disaster, but definitely messy. Again, we survived and have the cookies to prove it.

Yummy cookies

Part of our holiday tradition is to watch A Christmas Story. It started with the TBS 24 hour movie marathon, and has spiraled out of control from there. I am the proud owner of no less than 3 Ralphie ornaments, 2 leg lamps, and 1 Ralphie bulls-eye t-shirt. Unfortunately, my household has only basic cable so we do not get the 24 hour Christmas Story-palooza. However, we do have it on DVD! Oddly enough, we do get a Canadian channel that played it a few days early. As you can see, my parents were completely enraptured by it.

Luckily, no wine was spilled on my couch.

Finally, it was Christmas Eve! We dressed up in our finest attire and headed off for Bear River Lutheran Church, where the candles are free and singing on key is optional.

Here's Emily looking adorable as always. She's such a ham and loves being the center of attention. Until she has had enough of picture taking.

I know I'm cute. Can we open presents now?

Christmas morning was a 2 hour present-opening affair. There were lots of presents to be opened, and of course Little Miss wants to play with them all right now. She doesn't quite get the idea of more presents. Maybe next year? Her favorites include her Disney Princess Castle & Klip-Klop stable, her Disney Princess costume dresses, and of course the cheapo bracelet and necklace set that Santa found at Walmart. Big love there!

Fashionista is also wearing her faux-Ugg boots. What a statement.

She wants to wear the dresses all the time. Really. All.The.Time. To eat in, to bathe in, to sleep in. Large tears ensue whenever we pry her out of them. But hey, I need to wash them at some point, right?

I have to admit that my favorite gift so far is the book I posted about here, mainly because Hubby came through and paid for the fancy edition with an inscription from the author. True to her word, Ms. Jackson did indeed write whatever was requested. With maybe a little ad-lib in our case.

Funny, no?

So that is the end of my Christmas re-cap for you. The parents got home all in one piece, swearing to never return to Northern Minnesota in the winter (until next Christmas). We're all back at work and daycare today - for one day then a few days off for New Year's Eve. Travis and I are going to pretend we're in the Caribbean when we visit The Whistling Bird for a fancy, kid-free dinner. 

I hope you all had a fantastic holiday, no matter what you celebrate. Here's to all good things in 2014!